You have no idea about the percentage of muslims that play ps3….

There is the sensitivity issue that always seems to come up when religious beliefs affect other people. You hear it all the time, people saying “Everyone needs to stop being so sensitive” or “Those damn [insert religion]s need to stop shoving their beliefs down our throats.”

But what if the shoe was in the other foot? What if someone told you to change what you believe in? Most people would not hesitate to put foot-to-ass in order to stand for what they believe in.

People need to commend Sony for handling the issue with the respect it deserved. Sure, it was a mistake. But unless you are Muslim, it wasn’t common knowledge. Sony approach this the best way possible, even if their pockets took a hit.

This a fun, cuddly game in which gamers minds can finally be put to work. It doesn’t need to be tainted by some juvenile, insensitive people. Besides, one week never hurt anybody.

It is indeed silly that anyone would curse Islam because of actions taken by Sony – it’s not like religious leaders petitioned or sued Sony for the content removal. And while releasing the game with the Qur’anic verses certainly wouldn’t have been illegal, it might have offended people. I wish that instead, they’d released the game on time and quietly removed the verses with a patch. Less media attention would have helped, and while it’s true that some people may be playing without an internet connection, I imagine that percentage is low. Combine that with the percentage of Muslim players, which I imagine is low (this being a western game) and the percentage of Muslim players who also don’t have their PS3 connected online should be very low.

Of course, we live in an age and in a culture where people seem to like being offended by video games, be it the Hot Coffee scandal, the alteration of “Fahrenheit” to “Indigo Prophecy” or the totally ridiculous re-rating of Oblivion due to a user mod. It’s the times we live in, brother. Good article, Osama.